


Forbidden

by Pyro__Jo



Category: Cursed (TV 2020), Legacies (TV 2018), The Originals (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-07
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:14:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25774963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyro__Jo/pseuds/Pyro__Jo
Summary: In the middle of an all out war between witches, werewolves, and vampires, Josette Saltzman must choose between what she has always believed to be right and what her heart wants. The problem she faces is that her heart wants the one person who can destroy her and her kind completely.Hope Mikaelson has been trained to be a cold blooded killer since she learned to walk. She's killed so much that it almost doesn't bother her anymore. So why does the thought of killing this one witch upset her so much?Or the Cursed AU
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 9
Kudos: 123





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> “Could there be finer symptoms? Is not general incivility the very essence of love?”
> 
> ~Elizabeth Bennett, Pride and Prejudice

Smoke and chaos filled the air as Josette attempted to see through the smoke. Screams of horror surrounded her. She stumbled towards her family's hut, dodging various bodies strewn across the ground, trying not to see the familiar faces but still having to make sure none of them were her father.

She was suddenly yanked into a hut. Fear and then relief spread through her body. Her father stood in front of her, looking nervously out the door at the scene unfolding before them. 

"Take this. It will protect you from those who seek to harm you." He pulled a ring off his pinkie finger and shoved it at her. "It’s been in our family for generations. Keep it with you at all times. Now you must get out of here. Take the next ship and get as far away as possible. Pendragon is no longer safe for witches." 

"What about you? Aren't you coming?" 

"I'm going to help the elders evacuate as many as possible. I'll be safe but I need you to leave now. I love you, Josette. Now run. Get out of here. Don't let them see you." Alaric exited the hut after giving her a quick hug. 

She ducked out of the hut and quickly glanced around, looking for a good route of escape. Instead, she locked eyes with a steely blue gaze. 

The girl appeared to be around the same age as her and had flowing auburn locks. Her eyes were an alluring deep blue. Josette then seemed to realize the girl was mounted on a horse and that the man mounted on the horse next to her was the dreaded king of Pendragon, Niklaus Mikaelson. They were watching the scene unfold calmly, like vampires ripping witches apart and burning villages to ash was completely normal. 

Josette muttered a quick invisibility spell under her breath, hoping to get away undetected. It wasn't working. Her magic wasn't working. She tried again, panicking. Nothing happened.

"You think we didn't take precautions coming into a place like this?" 

Josette jumped. The girl was right in front of her, sneering down at her from atop her horse. She glared back venomously at the girl. 

"Why burn a village full of innocent people?" She finally mustered the courage to spit out the words. 

"Witches are better dead than alive," the girl replied with practiced ease, shrugging her shoulders, as if she were reciting from a script. "They're a menace to society." 

Josette knew now was not a good time to be cocky but the anger boiled up inside of her and her words burst out before she could stop them. "Witches aren't the ones killing an entire faction out of fear." She punctuated her words by spitting hatefully at the girl. "I hope you desiccate in a cave alone with no hope of ever seeing the light of day or a drop of blood again." 

The girl raised a perfectly trimmed eyebrow at her. 

Though Josette hated to admit it, the girl was breathtaking. The mid day sunlight lit up her pale skin, giving it a warm glow and illuminated her auburn hair, making it shine. She swatted the thought away as soon as it popped into her head. Now was not the time and this was definitely not the girl she should be thinking about in that way. 

"You’re quite feisty for someone with the obvious disadvantage." 

Out of the corner of her eye, Josette saw her father being dragged across the village square. "Father!" She rushed in his direction before being pulled back towards the girl. 

"I wouldn't if I were you. The only reason you're not dead yet is because you're talking to me," the girl's breath was hot against her neck and the hair on the back of her neck and her arms stood on end as she shivered in dread and something else she couldn't quite place. 

Josette yanked against the girl's grip on her as a vampire viciously ripped out Alaric's heart. "Let me go!" Her screams were drowned out by the noise around her. She struggled, tears streaming down her face. "Let go of me!" She stomped on the girl's foot, which caused her grip to loosen just enough that Josie was able to break free and dash towards her father. She dropped to her knees beside him. "No, no, no, no, no!" 

She barely registered the fact that the vampire who had ripped out Alaric's heart moments ago had now set his sights on her. He chuckled maniacally. 

"Back off, Kaleb. She's mine." The girl from before was at her side in an instant. 

"You can't save them all, Hope," he hissed at the girl, whose name was apparently Hope. 

At any other time, Josette would've laughed at the irony of such a name given to such a hateful person. 

"Who says I'm saving her? I just prefer my victims to be alive for torturing." At that, she turned, dragging Josette up from her position on the ground and over to her horse. 

She was in too much shock to resist or to even react at all. Soon she was being hoisted onto the saddle and then Hope was sitting behind her. 

"Follow my lead and you might get to keep your life for another day," Hope whispered in Josette's ear as she settled into the saddle and grabbed the reins. She guided the horse over to where Niklaus was still sitting on his horse, surveying the mass destruction. "I brought us one that talks well enough. We should interrogate her and learn as much as we can. Knowledge is power." She punctuated her words by gripping Josette's hair at the base of her neck and pulling roughly. 

Josette scowled darkly at Niklaus but said nothing as he studied her. 

"I haven't the time to deal with interrogation. If you wish to interrogate her, then do it yourself. Don't forget to dispose of her when she's done providing any useful information. And do it properly this time. That blubbering fool Roman nearly got you killed last time."

"Of course, Father." 

_Father?_ Josette started to connect the dots in her mind. Her gaze landed on a woman standing at the edge of the woods. She looked as though she were in deep concentration. Her lips moved but there was no one near her that she could be speaking with. She didn’t recognize her from the village and suddenly Josette realized that the woman was most likely the reason for the disruption of their magic. _Traitor._

Josette turned to look at her childhood home going up in smoke and her father's lifeless body laying a few feet away. She turned away quickly, unable to stomach the sight any longer. 

Finally satisfied that all the witches in the village had met a terrible end, Niklaus nodded and the raiders congregated and headed in the direction of the castle. 

She spared one last glance at her old home, knowing it was probably the last time she'd ever see it again. 

  
Josette stumbled and fell, sprawling across the dirty floors of a cell, as Hope shoved her and slammed the door shut. 

"I'll be back to deal with your treachery later," she sneered and spun around on her heel and disappeared around a corner. 

Josette sighed and twisted the ring on her finger. So much for protection. It offered little more than comfort to her, reminding her of her father's bravery and kindness. She smiled at the thought of him. Tears pooled in her eyes as she remembered once again that he was no longer around to comfort her and guide her. She realized with a sudden pang of grief in her chest that she was truly alone for the first time in her life. Her mother had been abducted and killed when she was just a few months old and she had no siblings. Now her father was dead too.

She lowered herself to a cot, if that's what the moldy pile of straw and old blankets in the corner could be called, and rested her head in her hands. She didn't realize she had drifted off but was soon startled awake by a voice outside her cell door. 

"You're keeping children as prisoners now, Niklaus? What use could she possibly be of to you?" 

Josette looked up and recognized the woman from the edge of the woods, the one who had made it impossible for her to access her magic. She narrowed her eyes and glared defiantly back at the woman. 

"Of course not, Eleanor. I’m not completely heartless." He chuckled as he jerked his head in Josette's direction and continued. "This is Hope's prisoner. She likes to take keepsakes from our escapades occasionally. I see no point in denying her the pleasure of torturing a witch from time to time. No offense." 

"None taken." 

Josette's eyes flickered back to the woman. Her suspicions had been right. The woman was a witch and a very powerful one if her being able to block an entire village's source of magic was any indication. 

The woman stepped forward and addressed her. "What's your name, child?" 

Josette backed into a corner and glowered at her, repressing the animalistic urge to hiss at the woman rising in the back of her throat. She already knew trying to use her magic here would be useless. There was some sort of dark object or powerful spell disrupting her connection to magic. 

"Not a very talkative one, is she?" Eleanor turned back to Niklaus and smirked. 

"I'm sure she'll have more to say when Hope is involved. She can be very persuasive. Death would be a step up, I dare say," Niklaus chuckled. "I've trained her well." 

The pair continued to talk as they walked down the corridor.

  
Hope studied the girl slumped against the wall of the cell. She realized that she had never learned the girl's name. 

Her father was constantly preaching at her that all witches were evil and couldn't be trusted but something inside her rebelled at the thought of hurting innocent people simply because of what faction they were born into. She had always thought it unfair. 

The girl in the cell lifted her head and looked around, as if she could sense someone was watching her. 

Hope took a few moments longer to admire her. Although it was obvious the girl was scared, her big brown eyes were shining brightly with curiosity. Her hair settled just past her petite shoulders, delicate brown curls framing her face and giving her an air of innocence. 

She finally approached the cell, holding a small tray with a bowl of soup and some water she had managed to sneak out of the kitchen. "You hungry?" She slid the tray towards the girl. 

The girl stared back at her with such intensity that Hope had to look away briefly to regain her composure. 

"You know, I still don't know your name," Hope tried coaxing the other girl into talking once more. 

"I thought you preferred your victims to be alive for torturing. Why should I give you the satisfaction of putting a name to the face who'll be joining the dead soon anyhow?" The girl stared daggers back at Hope, her expression not wavering. 

Hope stared back at her, dumbfounded. She didn't really know why it mattered to her so much or why she wanted to know anything about the girl. She was just planning on torturing her for any valuable witch secrets she might be hiding, perhaps something regarding the prophesy that had her father so worked up. 

She hadn't been there when Eleanor had told her father of the prophesy but he had recited the words so obsessively that she had them memorized.

_"One of dark and one of light_  
 _Opposite as day and night_  
 _Heart of gold and soul of granite_  
 _Meets iron will of different planet._  
 _Heart of steel from noble birth_  
 _And true blood witch of no consequential worth_  
 _Bond formed through sands of time_  
 _Forged in fires of hate sublime._  
 _The greatest tale of love ever told_  
 _Both to creature and man of old_  
 _Two souls brighten when intertwined_  
 _Saved from death is all mankind._

Hope thought it was silly to get so worked up over a prophesy that destroying every witch under the age of 40 was thought necessary. If fate truly wanted two people together, her father, powerful as he was, would not be able to stop that no matter how much he hated any other species that was not his own or what he deemed acceptable. 

She also felt it hypocritical of her to go around destroying part of her own kind. She hadn't had access to her own magic since earlier that year when she had become a vampire just shortly after her eighteenth birthday but she still felt a connection. Her father didn't see it that way and encouraged her to kill whenever she had the opportunity. She never enjoyed it as he did but she had developed a tolerance to where she didn't care as much, as long as she couldn't see their face when she murdered them. She had become very good at putting on a mask lately and acting as though the useless murder didn’t keep her up at night. She hoped that possibly someday he would take notice of all she did for him and spend some actual time being her father instead of training her to be a cold blooded killer. 

Her relationship with her father had always been strained. He never seemed to care much for her, other than using her for his own agenda. He had driven away her mother to the Ice Kingdom shortly after she had been born so Hope never really knew her that well. Niklaus would occasionally permit visits but the werewolf faction never fully trusted her, despite Hayley being the alpha and Hope being her daughter. Hope had been forced to grow up quickly in her father's household, never having time to make friends her own age or being allowed the simple pleasures of childhood. At times, she wondered what it would've been like to live as a normal child instead of being trained to kill by the age of ten. 

She snapped out of her thoughts as the girl spoke. 

"What's it like to be so cruel? Do you actually enjoy killing and torturing as you say you do?" 

"You think I'm a monster," Hope muttered softly, not sure why what the other girl thought of her hurt so much. She didn't even know her name. It shouldn't matter. 

The girl stood and leaned against the bars of the cell, studying her. "I don't," she finally spoke after a long silence. "I think you think you are and you've never been allowed to behave in any other fashion. You've convinced yourself that you are a monster." 

Hope didn't like the direction the conversation was heading. Talking about her feelings was not something she wished to do. She stood abruptly from her place on the floor and brushed off her robes. "You should eat something," she said gruffly as she motioned to the bowl of soup and pitcher of water she had brought along with her. "Father expects some answers by tomorrow." Her sneer returned and she raked her gaze over the girl in front of her. "Tonight may be the last night you have all your vital organs so I would enjoy the time I had left with them if I were you." 

She reveled in the fact that the girl's expression faltered a bit and she took an uncertain step backwards, trying to ignore the way that the girl's chocolate brown eyes stared back at her, making her feel exposed and vulnerable. No one should look that good after being captured and thrown in an old musty dungeon cell. 

In an attempt to feel like she still had the upper hand, she used her vamp speed and rushed forward. She reached though the cell bars and gripped the front of the girl's robe and yanked her forward till they were face to face, the only thing separating them being the cell bars. "Sleep well," she whispered, her voice syrupy sweet but her eyes flashing venomously. 

She released her grip and shoved the girl backwards, laughing as she saw fear flash through her prisoner's eyes. She turned and stalked back down the corridor. 

Hope knew sleep would not be an option for her tonight so she went out to the woods and shifted to her wolf form, trying to escape the dread of knowing she was torturing a completely innocent girl tomorrow.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this has taken me so long to update. I had writer's block and couldn't seem to power through it so hopefully this chapter isn't too dull. Enjoy!

Hope's back was slammed against the castle wall and her sword was snatched from her grip with a powerful blast of magic. The girl stood a couple feet away, holding her to the wall with an invisible force. She toyed with Hope's sword while the tribrid struggled in her grasp.

She finally spoke. "Not that you deserve to know but my name is Josette and I'm a witch. I'm guessing you already know that but I just wanted you to know for certain that the last words you'll ever hear spoken are from a member of a faction that you've worked so hard to destroy." She stalked closer, smirking as she saw Hope gulp nervously. "Rule number one: don't mess with me or my family. That includes my village and my entire faction. Rule number two: don't forget rule number one-" her voice dropped to a dangerous tone and she scraped the tip of the sword over Hope's throat, "-ever."

Hope silently wondered how things had taken such a drastic turn. She went to retrieve Josette that morning bright and early. Hoping to spark some sort of struggle, Hope had released Josette from her shackles and dragged her to a courtyard in the castle where her magic would not be restrained by anything. Any other time when she tortured witches, they would mostly cower away from her in fear. If they did attempt to put up any sort of fight, it would be a weak effort and Hope would easily ward off the attempt. She rarely found herself breaking a sweat. This was clearly not like the other times.

"So tell me," Josette's voice took on a dark tone and she cocked her head to stare down at Hope, "what's to stop me from ending you right here, right now?"

Hope gasped, struggling to breathe under the chokehold Josette still held her in with her magic. She reached up to her throat and attempted to wrap her fingers around the invisible force holding her in place.

"There's no use overexerting yourself. I would save my energy if I were you." Josette shrugged casually and chuckled humorlessly. "I've had a lot of time to think, you know. I can't say that I enjoy torturing people for fun but I'd hardly consider you fitting of the title of person. Last week, the thought alone would have been appalling to me but last week, I still had my family. I've got nothing to lose now and nothing but time on my hands."

Hope felt herself growing faint with the lack of air. Something in the back of her mind told her that although Josette was furious at her, the brunette still had a compassionate side. She decided to play to that side of her. She gave up struggling against Josette's grasp. "Fine. Do with me what you must. Kill me or whatever you feel like you need to do. It's not like I don't deserve it." Her voice was raspy and each word she spoke was forced due to her lack of oxygen, causing her voice to take on a vulnerable tone. Brown eyes studied her intently, as if searching for the lie in her words. "You don't want to do this. My father is relentless. You'll be a fugitive for the rest of your life, if by some miracle you do happen to be able to escape the castle grounds at all."

There was a long pause. "You're wrong, you know. I _do_ want to do this. I want to make you feel half the pain you've inflicted on me." Her dark eyes flashed dangerously and she curled her bottom lip back. "However, that's not the way to honor my father's legacy or my friends' memories. I don't know why you're concerned about how relentless your father is though. I'm already a fugitive just because of my lineage. Why should it matter whether it's your father or his army of small minded bloodsucking rodents hunting me?"

Hope tumbled to the ground as the brunette suddenly dropped her hand, releasing her from the witch's invisible grip. "His bloodsucking rodents hunt your kind because they fear him, not because they wish to, though I'm sure there are some who actually enjoy it. My father does it because he gets some sort of twisted thrill from it. He's… cruel." She looked away, remembering against her will the day she realized just how cruel he was. It was her sixth birthday.

_"Do you like it, Love? I saw it at the market and compelled the vendor to give it to me for half the price he was asking." Klaus smirked devilishly at the thought of the vendor's face when his wife scolded him for only having half the money he wanted._

_"Oh, yes, I love her. I think I'll name her Daisy." Hope delicately stroked the small puppy's head, smiling joyfully as her eyes twinkled with excitement._

_Over the next few weeks, she grew attached to the dog. It was very rare to see one of them without the other being there as well so it was no surprise that when Klaus brought Hope along on one of his witch hunts, Daisy trotted along dutifully behind Hope's horse. Klaus stopped the first night and made camp quickly before nightfall._

_Her father's sharp voice cut through the evening stillness. "Do you know why I brought you along with me this time, Hope?"_

_She shook her head in response._

_"You must learn at a young age not to develop attachments. Nothing and no one is permanent." He unsheathed a dagger as he spoke and whistled for the dog to join them. He placed the weapon in her hands. "Daisy is the perfect way to learn that lesson. Slit her throat."_

_"What? No, Father, not her!" Tear welled up her eyes. "I can't."_

_"Hope, I'm not offering you a choice! I will leave you out here to fend for yourself and if the wolves haven't eaten you in the span of a week when I return, you'll wish they had." He left the unspoken threat hang heavily in the air._

_Hope sobbed and wrapped her arms around the dog's neck, hugging her close one last time. Daisy nuzzled her gently, almost as if she understood. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, bringing the blade to the dog's neck and slitting its throat, ending it for the poor creature_.

Hope snapped out of the memory and glanced at her hands, half expecting them to be covered in blood.

"You fear him too." Josette stepped closer, still clutching Hope's sword in her hand.

It wasn't a question, more of an observation. Hope felt as though Josette were taking a stroll through her subconscious, pulling out little details of her character that she had taken great care to hide from the world for years. It was unnerving. Instead of letting it show how affected she was by the witch's words, she scoffed.

"Or perhaps you fear becoming him more than you fear his wrath?"

Hope roared and lunged forward, catching Josette off guard and pinning her back against the same wall she herself had been pinned against seconds before. "Perhaps you should be less worried about evaluating the way my brain works and more worried about why my father left it to me to decide the way you will die." She stepped back and gave the brunette a once over. "I'm thinking… ripping you limb from limb and then decapitation. It's a little more effort than I usually put into torturing but you're particularly chatty."

"Or maybe you'd like to stop the cycle of violence." Josette punctuated her words by twisting her wrists enough to gain some leverage and then blasting Hope away from her with a spell. Once again, Hope's back was slammed against the castle wall. "But maybe you don’t know how and violence is what comes naturally. How could you even begin to know how to show basic kindness when all you've ever known is evil?"

"I'm really going to need you to stop playing the role of my mother here and either run away or kill me," Hope growled at Josette. "If I wanted to talk about my feelings, I would've brought a bottle of wine and a plate of cheese. Personally, I'd prefer if you ran. It's been a while since I've had a good chase." Her eyes flashed golden for the briefest of moments without her even realizing it but Josette saw it and backed up quickly, almost tripping on her robes.

Realization dawned in her eyes. "You're… you're a hybrid. Your father hates anyone who isn't a pureblood vampire though."

Hope's eyes darkened. "Tell me about it," she muttered under her breath but not loud enough for the other girl to hear.

The witch's dark eyes glinted at Hope as she studied her. "I wonder what would happen if the rest of the kingdom were to find out or at the very least, suspect that the Great Evil's offspring was not the great medical miracle baby of the century that everyone claims she is. Scandalous!" She placed a hand over her mouth is mock dismay.

Hope started to struggle harder against the spell that held her, her eyes glowing golden as her anger overtook her. "Don't you fucking do it. I'll end you!"

"Language, crossbreed. Didn't your mother ever teach you any manners?"

"Didn't watching your father die teach you anything about not pissing off the wrong people?"

Josette's gleeful expression fell from her face at the mention of her father. Her eyes narrowed.

The last thing Hope heard was a loud snap and then darkness overtook her.

"That's quite the brave stunt you just pulled there. Not many talk back to her and survive the first minute."

Josette whirled around at the sound of another voice in the courtyard. Her eyes narrowed at the witch who was with the Mikaelsons when they were burning her village. _Eleanor, wasn't it?_ She grabbed Hope's sword from where it had fallen on the ground when they were each struggling for the upper hand.

"Honey, don't embarrass yourself. You know what I am and you know that that sword will only do damage if you can manage to get close enough to use it." She waved her hand and the sword went clattering across the stone floor, proving her point.

"What do you want from me?" Josette snapped angrily.

Eleanor looked nervously around her and then checked to make sure Hope hadn't revived. She marched forward and grabbed Josette's wrist as she spoke. "To get you somewhere safe. Pendragon is no longer safe for witches. We saw it once with the Fey kind and now again with the war between the vampires, witches, and werewolves. I'll explain more when we're out of here."

"Why should I trust you?" She yanked her wrist out of Eleanor's grasp and backed away.

"You shouldn't but your only other option is to try to make it out of this castle without a guide. The last one who tried that didn't make it thirty meters before getting her heart ripped out. It's your choice." Eleanor turned away slightly.

"Fine. I guess I die either way. Might as well delay it a little while."

Eleanor chuckled. "That's the spirit. Now, come on. We have to get out of here."

They crept around corners and up staircases till they reached the main floor of the castle. As they rounded the last corner before their exit, Niklaus appeared in front of them.

"Good morning. Out for a little stroll, are we?"

Eleanor gripped Josette's arm harshly. "I was just escorting this flagitious creature out to the town square. Hope was planning on making a public spectacle of her execution."

"Was she now? I'm sure whatever she has planned will be most enjoyable to watch. I shall see if I can make time to attend."

"I believe she said something about midday."

"I look forward to it." He turned to Josette, an evil smirk plastered on his lips. "Until then, little one." He turned and continued on his way in the opposite direction.

Eleanor continued to drag Josette along with her until they reached the stables. "You'll get further if you stick to the woods." She saddled a horse as she spoke.

"You aren't coming with me?" 

"Go to Gramaire. There are witch sympathizers near the edge of town. You'll have a clean place to sleep and some food if you tell them Eleanor sent you. It's not difficult to find. It's the only hut in Gramaire that doesn't look like a gust of wind will blow it over."

"What about you? Niklaus saw you with me. If I suddenly disappear and you were the last one seen with me, won't that draw suspicion to you?"

"I'll be fine. Niklaus believes what I tell him. He's too far gone in his own delusions to question me."

"Apart from being completely evil, he seemed like he was well aware of everything going on around him. He doesn't strike me as the type to be easily fooled."

"Niklaus is a very superstitious creature. If he were to believe that you were the cause of some curse or a great evil would befall his precious kingdom because of your presence, he would not question it if I chose to end you myself before your execution."

Josette nodded and turned her horse in the direction of Gramaire, following Eleanor's instructions to stick to the woods. She couldn’t understand how Eleanor had been so willing to help kill all those other witches but spared hers and got her away from her captors. The thought puzzled her and ran through her mind, even as she neared Gramaire.

It was easy to locate the hut Eleanor spoke of. There was a young girl about her age out tending a fire as she neared the hut. The girl watched her approach warily.

"Hello, my name is Josette. Eleanor sent me." She looked hesitantly at the girl as she slid off her horse, hoping the meaning was clear.

The apprehension slid off the girl's face and she shot into action, leading Josette inside the hut. "Of course, come with me. My name is Elizabeth."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We do not merely destroy our enemies. We change them." 
> 
> -George Orwell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is inspired by @feuenfeu posting about tribrid hope with a sword. enjoy!

"What do you mean she's gone? Stop standing there gaping like a half witted fool and find her."

Hope shrunk away from her father's harsh voice, knowing how quickly his anger could escalate from shouted curses to physical violence.

Niklaus paused his shouting and turned to stare at her curiously. "Wait, I thought you planned on publicly executing her. Eleanor took her to the town square for you to deal with her there. Are you telling me you lost her in town?"

Confusion crossed Hope's face. Before she could open her mouth to answer, Eleanor appeared. For a split second, Hope thought she spotted dread flicker in Eleanor's eyes but it was gone as soon as it appeared, replaced smoothly with a calm and composed expression.

"Oh, you're both here. I was coming to find you, Niklaus. It was brought to my attention that the young witch that you were housing in this very castle was a murderous monster intent on overthrowing Pendragon and causing utter chaos to the good thing you've got going on in the kingdom. I took care of her accordingly. I do hope you don't mind me cutting her down before you were finished with your… entertainment, Hope." Eleanor arched an eyebrow in Hope's direction.

Hope looked away, a light blush dusting her cheeks. "So, she's dead?" She didn't know why but the thought made her stomach twist into uncomfortable knots. Why did she suddenly feel so protective of a girl she barely knew? A girl who had wanted to kill her a couple of hours ago? A girl who _had_ killed her a couple of hours ago? She rubbed her neck absentmindedly.

"She's no longer a problem." Eleanor nodded, an evil smirk forming on her lips that sent chills down Hope's spine. "You should've seen it. That girl had a convincing innocent act."

"Well at least someone around her knows how to take care of problems instead of creating new ones." Niklaus shot Hope a withering glare.

Hope rolled her eyes and turned to stalk away.

"Where are you going?"

Hope didn't answer.

"Hope Andrea Mikaelson!" Niklaus sounded thoroughly pissed off now.

"I'm going to kill something!"

Hope quietly notched an arrow to her bow and pulled the string to her ear, aiming carefully at a deer that was grazing in a small clearing in the woods.

A twig snapped just as she was ready to release her arrow and the deer snapped to attention and bounded away.

Hope cursed and looked around, ready to kill whatever made the noise on sight. She was not in the mood to be merciful. Her eyes rested on two women walking down a path. She crept through the trees to get a better look, careful not to make any noise. They were speaking in hushed tones but Hope could still hear every word if she used her vamp hearing.

"Elizabeth, you can't keep taking in charity cases simply because you feel bad for them. You're going to get us all killed if you keep it up."

"Relax, Mother. She's only going to be with us for a of couple days. She just needed a place to sleep and a couple meals. It's not the end of the world." The younger blonde shrugged nonchalantly.

Hope was about to walk away, having lost interest in hearing about some girl's charity case when the mother said something that stopped her in her tracks.

"It will be the end of the world if Niklaus ever gets wind of it. Do you know how much trouble I'd get in for being a witch sympathizer? Can you imagine how much worse it would be if they found out I was also a vampire? Shut it down, Elizabeth. The girl seems very sweet but this business of yours has got to stop."

"It's not like I go around gossiping about it. She came to me and she knew about me somehow. I couldn't very well turn her away." The girl huffed and rolled her eyes.

Hope softly padded after them, making sure to stay hidden. Maybe if she could find where they lived, she'd finally earn some approval from her father.

She trailed them for a couple of hours, ducking behind shrubbery and staying out of sight before they finally reached a village, which she recognized as Gramaire. She stayed at the edge of the tree line and watched as the two women disappeared into the village, frowning when she could no longer see them.

She slipped her bow across one of her shoulders and toyed with the handle of the sword she always kept by her side. Hope wondered if it would be worth it to storm the village without knowing who or what she was facing.

Her father's mocking face popped into her mind unbidden. _"Well at least someone around here knows how to take care of problems instead of creating new ones."_ Hope ground her teeth and stomped toward Gramaire. She could take care of problems. She'd show him.

She slowed as she approached the village center, not wanting to attract much attention but knowing that she inevitably would. Her clothes alone stood out from the raggedy clothes of the villagers. Seeing the stares and hearing the whispers, she decided against subtlety and roughly grabbed a random villager while drawing her sword. She pressed the blade to the trembling boy's throat and smirked when she saw the fear on his face.

"Hey!" Her voice boomed through the small town square and cut through the thick summer air, striking fear in the hearts of the villagers. "I heard there's a witch that's been hiding around here. Anyone care to point me in the right direction?"

Silence fell over the crowd. No one moved or said anything for a few long seconds.

Hope smirked. "Wrong answer!" Her blade quickly sliced through the boy's throat. His body dropped limply to the ground.

A woman wailed from the crowd, only to be restrained before she could rush to his body. "Landon, no!"

Hope cocked her head, sneering at the horrified looks on the villagers' faces. "Let me ask that again." Her voice was dangerously low, though she didn't need to be loud as she had everyone's undivided attention. "Where is the witch?" She punctuated the words by pointing her sword at a different person with each word, finally landing on a young woman. Hope's eyes glinted with evil mischief. She brought the sword under the girl's chin, raising her face till their eyes made contact. "Do you have a name, love?"

The girl's eyes flashed angrily and Hope was certain that if looks could kill, she would most certainly be dead already. "Maya," the girl spit the word out at Hope with all the ferocity of an army of soldiers.

Hope hummed in response, giving Maya a once over. Her eyes caught the intense gaze of a shorter girl in the crowd with raven colored hair and hazel eyes. She shifted her gaze between the two girls a couple of times before addressing the one whose name she didn’t know. "Is this your sister?" She paused when the girl simply glowered at her. "Or perhaps something more?" Her eyebrow arched teasingly and her lips twitched in a playful smirk.

Hope's focus was pulled to a sudden commotion on the other side of town. She was distracted for just a brief moment but it was enough for Maya to rush forward and sink her canines into Hope's neck.

Hope stumbled backwards in surprise and chuckled. "You're a wolf."

"And you're not a vampire," Maya observed.

"Not exactly, love," Hope smirked. Her eyes glowed golden and the dark veins under her eyes appeared. "I guess you could say I'm something of a phenomenon."

Before she could say or do anything else, she found her back slammed against the wall of a nearby hut.

"Hey! I heard you were looking for me."

The familiarity of the voice snapped Hope out of the fog of being slammed into a wall.

"Josette," she hissed. "I thought you were dead."

Josette approached Hope and cocked her head, her intense brown eyes meeting Hope's deep blue eyes. "Funny," she chuckled. " You _were_ dead the last time I saw you."

Hope opened her mouth to reply but didn't get the opportunity. For the second time that week, she heard a snap and everything went black.

Hope blinked against the blinding light coming in through a window somewhere off to her right. She registered voices coming from a different room. It sounded as though they were arguing.

"What the hell were you thinking, Josette?"

The voice sounded familiar but Hope couldn't quite place it.

"This entire operation runs on sticking to the shadows and keeping a low profile. Kidnapping the fucking daughter of the king of Pendragon is not keeping a low profile. You're supposed to be dead. Could you be any more reckless?"

Hope's eyes snapped open. _Eleanor. What was she doing here?_ Hope struggled against her restraints but quickly stopped as the ropes dug into her skin and burned. She hissed. _Fucking wolfsbane. Fucking Josette. Fucking Eleanor. Fuck._

As if sensing that Hope was awake from the other room, Josette appeared. "Are you ready to listen now without going on another killing spree?"

Hope's eyes narrowed and she let out a growl in reply.

Josette studied her for a few moments longer, long enough to make Hope avert her eyes and squirm uncomfortably in her restraints. Josette cleared her throat and smirked at Hope. "Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to you let you go now and you're going to help me put an end to this war that your father has declared on anyone who isn't a pureblood vampire."

Hope laughed. "Oh, that's a good one. Why would I ever help you? Tell you what- you let me go and I'll give you a two minute head start to your inevitable death."

Josette shrugged. "You could try. I've heard vervain is a painful death for a vampire though and as I seem to recall, you're part vampire. I may have ingested enough of it to kill a small army of vampires. As for why you should help me, well, remember that spectacle you caused in the middle of Gramaire earlier today? Yeah, the one where you inadvertently exposed yourself as a crossbreed. Only a few people actually witnessed it so it wouldn't be that hard to make it sound like run of the mill gossip but it sure would be a shame if they were to find out that you're the one and only daughter of the Great Evil and that you're not a pureblood. I can't imagine your father or the people he terrorizes would take that too well. I'd go so far as to say there may even be an uprising. If your father happened to make it out unscathed, the same probably couldn't be said for you if he ever got his hands on you." Josette's eyebrows furrowed and she shrugged nonchalantly. "Oh well. What's a little war when you're the most powerful creature alive, right?" She smirked and added one final remark before turning on her heel and strutting towards the other room. "Or at least his daughter, right?"

It took Hope a few seconds to catch the jab. When she did, her face heated up and she snapped her mouth shut angrily. "What do you want from me?"

Josette turned back, her dark eyes glinting in victory. "I knew you'd see things my way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's been so long since i've updated this fic. i didn't like the direction this was taking so i took a break but i'll try to be better about posting more regularly. 
> 
> let me know what y'all think. comments are appreciated :) 
> 
> follow me on twitter @Pyro__Jo


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